Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are extra sensitive to developing other chronic disorders

People with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of developing other chronic disorders. So 56% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis developed another chronic disorder, such as COPD, high blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome or heart failure within three years after the diagnosis. In a control group the percentage was found to be 46%. This has become clear from a study by researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) which was published in the scientific journal BMC Family Practice.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which affects the joints. In the Netherlands, 48 out of every 10,000 patients have rheumatoid arthritis. This means that in an average general practice of 2,350 patients, approximately 12 patients have rheumatoid arthritis. Like many patients with a chronic condition, many of those with rheumatoid arthritis have one or more other chronic disorders. At the time that the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is made, 70% of the patients have at least one other chronic condition.
 
More impairments
Following the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, more than half of the patients will develop another chronic condition within 3 years after the diagnosis. Having more than one chronic condition often means that a patient has more physical impairments and a reduced quality of life.
 
Prevention
As well as the rheumatoid arthritis, patients developed primarily cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders and COPD. Moreover, the risk of developing a further chronic disorder was greater the older the patients were. NIVEL study leader Joke Korevaar explains: “The rate with which a chronic disorder develops and the high percentage of patients for whom this applies demonstrates the importance of prevention carried out in general practice. Delaying the onset of extra chronic disorders has a positive effect on daily life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.” 
 
NIVEL’s registration network
The study was based on data from 83 general practices with a total of 335,000 patients that are included in the NIVEL’s registration network. Over the period 2001 to 2010, anonymised patients with a new diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis were selected. All these patients were matched to two anonymised patients in the control group with the same age and gender and from the same general practice. In the ICPC codes, the researchers then compared the patients’ history of diseases.